Bean References

If the evaluation context has been configured with a bean resolver, you can look up beans from an expression by using the @ symbol. The following example shows how to do so:

  • Java

ExpressionParser parser = new SpelExpressionParser();
StandardEvaluationContext context = new StandardEvaluationContext();
context.setBeanResolver(new MyBeanResolver());

// This will end up calling resolve(context,"something") on MyBeanResolver during evaluation
Object bean = parser.parseExpression("@something").getValue(context);

To access a factory bean itself, you should instead prefix the bean name with an & symbol. The following example shows how to do so:

  • Java

ExpressionParser parser = new SpelExpressionParser();
StandardEvaluationContext context = new StandardEvaluationContext();
context.setBeanResolver(new MyBeanResolver());

// This will end up calling resolve(context,"&foo") on MyBeanResolver during evaluation
Object bean = parser.parseExpression("&foo").getValue(context);